Pupils from Drew Primary School
get powered up by eco friendly building
West Ham’s new eco friendly building was the source of
interest when pupils from Drew Primary School went on a ‘grassroots’
visit as part of South West Newham Education Action Zone’s
Citizenship Week.
With this year’s theme focusing on ‘Going Green’,
these pupils were lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour
of the green building.
Grassroots is the second of two community resource centres built
by West Ham and Plaistow New Deal for Communities.
NDC’s Acting Director, Peter Elia, explains the building’s
solar powered panels to pupils during a guided tour.
Located in the Memorial Park, which lies at the heart of the
NDC area, Grassroots is a landmark building of very imaginative
design, and includes an accessible grassed roof to minimise visual
impact on the park, and incorporates a number of features to reduce
the ecological impact of the building and contribute to environmental
sustainability, including 30 solar panels to run the community
centre’s electricity.
NDC Acting Director, Peter Elia, spent an hour with the children
escorting them around the community centre. As part of the tour
they were shown how the building collects rainwater which is used
to flush the centre’s toilets, an explanation of why the
centre has been built underground and how it keeps the building
warm in winter and cool in summer, and how the building’s
solar powered panels are used to generate electricity.
Drew Primary School’s Year 3 and 4 were joined on the day
by pupils from Star and Grange Primary Schools for a Moral Maze
question time on environmental issues. Around 20 pupils from each
school took part in the session, which saw them voting on a range
of conservation issues.
Up on the roof - Gainsborough pupils get a
chance to walk on the building’s grassed roof.
Lyn Senior, SWNEAZ’s Citizenship Week Consultant, said:
“The whole day has been an environmental learning curve
for the children.
“The Moral Maze debate was very exciting. Star’s
class teacher, Louise Havercan, acted as MC, and the idea was
to get the children thinking about conserving energy in buildings.
“We wanted to make them think about the questions raised
and then think about other people’s answers before making
their decision.
“This year’s Citizenship Week is all about ‘Going
Green’ and this particular day gave pupils a real understanding
of the different things that can be done to conserve energy.
Ends
Contact:
Karen Cousins, SW Newham EAZ Press Officer
Tel: 07957 492678
Email: cousins.karen@btopenworld.com
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